Chapter 746 Ashen Pact in Flames.
+8 Pearls
Dale’s patience was gone. Trevor’s report had made the truth clearer and murkier all at once.
“None of them?” His voice rasped through clenched teeth.
Trevor nodded. “Yes, sir. We searched thoroughly. Neither Madam nor your two sons have any trace of her.”
“Then maybe she was never in their hands at all,” Trevor ventured.
Dale’s fist tightened around his cigarette. “Then where the hell is she?”
Trevor had no answer.
The study fell into silence, heavy enough to choke. Smoke curled from Dale’s lips, the bitterness staining the air.
“They all clamor for me to hand her over, yet none of them have her? What kind of twisted game is this?”
“Sir,” Trevor added quietly, “Dan’s men are investigating you, Madam, and Manny. If he’s searching so desperately, then the girl isn’t with him.”
Dale’s brows drew taut. Dan was out.
“And Manny himself is checking into Dan,” Trevor continued.
Dale’s gaze sharpened. If both sons were clawing at each other, neither could be holding her.
Which left only… Artemis.
The thought cut like a blade. His heart convulsed, unwilling to accept it. She was the woman he’d cherished for years, the gentlest presence in his life. To suspect her now–it felt like betrayal of himself.
Yet the doubt lodged like a thorn he couldn’t remove.
“Then who?” His roar snapped through the quiet. “Who dared take them, and dump the blame on Ashen Pact?”
Trevor could only shake his head.
Dale ground out his cigarette. “Bring Dan to me. Now.”
“Yes, sir.”
1/3
Chapter 746 Ashen Pact in Flames
+8 Pearls
Dan’s night had gone no better. Derrick’s men had just struck another hidden base of his. Fury boiling, he dialed Derrick himself.
“You bastard–haven’t you done enough?”
On the other end came Derrick’s lazy laugh. “Not my fault. Orders from the wife.”
Dan nearly choked on his own rage. “I never thought I’d see the day Derrick Morris danced on a woman’s strings. Your ancestors must be rolling in their graves.”
Derrick’s voice turned sharp. “Better than dying alone with no wife, no heir, no legacy. That’s what really makes ancestors restless.”
Dan’s face twisted. “You think I can’t find another? Women would line up to marry me!”
Unfortunately for him, Derrick had put the phone on speaker. Across the table, Marie sipped her milk, hearing every word.
Her face frosted over. “You think I’m replaceable, Dan? You’re the one who’ll die childless.”
Dan froze. Her voice had struck like a whip.
“Marie,” he sputtered, “I swear, I didn’t take Tessa.”
Marie’s tone dripped contempt. “Mr. Morris still doesn’t plan to hand her over, I see.”
“You thick–headed woman,” Dan exploded. “Don’t you get it? She’s not in my hands! Mrs. Miller’s treasure is worth more than all your petty holdings combined–that’s why you’re blind!”
His words came out ragged, his breath uneven.
“You never believe me. First you claim I stole your sister, now you still won’t let go of that night. I didn’t sleep with you, and I didn’t steal Tessa. How many times must I shout before you stop hanging it all on me?”
Marie’s laugh was ice. “You faked your own death once. What’s one more lie?”
The line went still.
Dan’s chest heaved. “So that’s it, huh? That wound will never close. What do Marie? For me to go die again just to win back your trust?”
you
want then.

Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Wrong Girl and the Wronged Girl (Stella and Ethan)
Ch 489 Doesn’t this prove that Dan doesn’t actually have amnesia? Why would he go to the island with a strange woman and why would he steal from Derrick? He doesn’t know them....
Ch 488 I feel like this is going to be what Stella stole in his study in Pagenda or wherever his estate was....
Ch 485 I thought it was going to be the Reed family mine that she robbed, thus taking the Keenes product and leaving them in that situation....
Ch 483 o then, how did the Reeds fine her? How did they not know where she was from?...
Ch 477 Definitely hidden pedo in here, referring to tiny women as little girls in every way possible....
Ch 468 How could Stella inherit her adopted father’s weak stomach constitution?...
Ch 468 Abraham and Marie’s mother has been called Evelyn, Diane and Loretta.. which is it? Evelyn has been the most used....
Ch 465 She still doesn’t know the mistress is Lillian’s aunt?...
Ch 464 Why didn’t she kick her out herself be for she went to attack the mistress…...
Ch 463 This is stupid now. I understand being scared in his presence enough to not think straight, but she’s a lone more often than not and has plenty of time to think things through, especially if she has time to get gossip from Rivermount and report to Stella....